One of the things I like best about Delaware is how beautiful the campus is. For a large chunk of the year, my university is gorgeous. Trees and bushes are blooming, there’s color everywhere, and the sun shines down overhead as you hang out on the Green. Unfortunately, there’s also a period when this is not so true. This dark time is known as winter, and it’s quite different from spring, summer, and even fall.
But I love Newark in the spring. If you’re anxious to get in a spring state of mind (and given the bad weather we have had lately, I don’t blame you), just go on the Internet and use your favorite search engine to look up images of campus in the warmer months.
photo by UDHP student Mary Jean Rainsford
Starting around the beginning of March, the weather warms up and campus begins to come back to life after the cold winter months. Trees grow, flowers bloom, and the grass turns greener. One aspect I love about Delaware during this time is seeing the trees between Memorial Hall and Lammot du Pont Lab bloom. I don’t know what kind of trees these are, as I am not a dendrologist (meaning one who studies trees), but they produce beautiful pink blossoms.
As I walked to the dining hall for breakfast one morning last week, I noticed the blossoms were coming out. These buds, to me, signal the beginning of spring’s arrival. Over the course of the month of March, all the other plants of campus come back to life and bloom. By the time we return from spring break at the start of April, campus is gorgeous.
The Green is truly green, trees everywhere have their leaves, the bushes are flourishing, and the weather is warm. Students flock to the Green, spending time reading, playing catch, tanning, or even napping outside. It’s truly a welcome change from winter, when seemingly all the foliage around here is dead and only the bravest dare to venture outside without additional layers.
photo by UDHP student Mary Jean Rainsford
Soon the fountain by the library will be turned on, and the weather will be warm enough that people can wear shorts without worrying about freezing en route to class. Delaware has so much color in the spring, thanks to all the fresh and beautiful plants on campus.
Spring is the most glorious time of the year, a period of rebirth and beauty. And my friends, it is upon us.
~Matt Bittle
